Carrying handle and container



Jan. 17, 1967 J. M. GRADY 3,

' CARRYING HANDLE AND CONTAINER Filed Oct. 18, 1965 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1Jan. 17, 1967 J. M. GRADY CARRYING HANDLE AND CONTAINER s sheets-sheet 2Filed Oct. 18, 1965 Jan. 17, 1967 J. R D 3,298,416

-GARRYING HANDLE AND CONTAINER Filed Oct. 18, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5United States PatentOfiice 3,298,416 Patented Jan. 17, 1967 3,298,416CARRYING HANDLE AND CONTAINER James M. Grady, Mount Prospect, 11].,assignor to Morton International, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation ofDelaware Filed on. 18, 1965, Ser. No. 502,761 3 Claims. Cl. 150-12 Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of the prior application of JamesM. Grady, Serial No. 414,764, filed November 30, 1964, entitled,Carrying Handle and Container, now abandoned.

This invention relates to pliable :plastic containers with carryinghandles and, more specifically, to a low-cost, high-strength,integrally-formed plastic handle of a versatile and unique design whichis integrally secured to a filmic plastic container or bag so as topermit the con- .venient and safe carrying of a flowable materialtherein,

e.g., a liquid or a granulated, pulverulent or p-articulated solid.

Modern packaging trends include the exploitation'of low-cost pliableplastic, such as filmic polyethylene, polypropylene and the like. Inaddition to low cost, plastic materials have a number of advantages as apackaging medium for flowable materials, as the art fully recognizes.

For example, such containers are readily and inexpensively fabricatedfrom plastic sheet stock, which is substantially inert, relativelyimpervious, water repellent, and insensitive to moisture, and has a highstrength-to-weight ratio and a low weight-to-carrying-capacity ratio.Moreover, the container may optionally be transparent to show off theincluded product, may be made in a wide variety of colors, and can bereadily imprinted with desired indi-cia such as brand name, weight, volume, identification of contents, directions for use, or other desiredlegends.

A particularly-vexing problem, however, has been the design of asuitable low-cost, high-strength carrying handle for such filmiccontainers, particularly one which can be secured to either the flatsurfaces or the peripheral edges thereof. Such a handle must be capableof safely bearing heavy loads, e.g., SO-lb. lots of fertilizer, rocksalt, or the like, for home dispensing, without cutting into the hand ofthe carrier. It must also transfer and distribute the carrying stressessubstantially evenly to the filmic Walls of the bag so thatminimum-thickness plastic can be used for such walls. Otherwise,heavier-gauge, higher-cost plastic would be required. The handlemustalso be secured without piercing the plastic.

niques would create points or nuclei of weakness in'plastic materialfrom which tears or rips could rapidly propagate, even under minimalstress. The handle must meet still other requirements, as more fullyindicated in the following objects.

It is therefore an object of the prevent invention to cope with theaforementioned problem and more specifically to provide a low-cost,high-strength, integrally-formed plastic handle which is readilyafiixable to pliable-walled plastic containers or bags, whether they areof the gusseted, pillow or other types.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a plastichandle which is afiixable to either the fiat surfaces or end extremitiesof bags of varying wall thicknesses.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide the basicdesign for a plastic handle, the dimensions of which can be varied inparticular embodiments without change of the basic design, as dictatedby cost and strength considerations.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide alow-cost plastic handle-and-container combina- Perforations resultingfrom stitching, stapling, riveting, or similar attachment tech-' tionwhich can be shipped flat when empty, regardless of containerconfiguration or location of handle.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide apeel-resistant, high-strength plastic handle of stress-distributingdesign which will not told or collapse under load and will permit theuse of thin-wall filmic plastic for the carrying of heavy, fiowablematerial.

These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent as thedetailed description thereof proceeds.

' The objects are achieved by an integrally-formed, allplastic carryinghandle which comprises an elongated securing web which is longitudinallyslotted along one side thereof and is preferably progressively thickenedor increased in cross section adjacent such slotted side to accommodatethe slot. Convergently-directioned support webs at the extremities ofthe securing web and at the other longitudinal side thereof connect thesecuring web with an elongated hand-gripping portion. The support webshave stress-distributing profiles at the internal juncture with thesecuring web. The elongated hand-grip portion is flattened or otherwisepresents a stress-distributing contour at the normally-downward-faeingsurface, which forms the principal area of hand contact.

The plastic handle and handle-container combination of the presentinvention will be more clearly understood from the following detaileddescription, which should be read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the upper portion of a pliable plasticcontainer with the plastic handle of the present invention secured tothe upper edge-seam thereof;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the handle and portion of the bagseam or sealing strip;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the handle;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 5 is a partial section view at section line 55 of FIG. 2, omittingthe container;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged section view at section line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

, FIG. 7 is an enlarged section view at section line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a partial section view similar to FIG. 7 but illustratingattachment of the handle to the Walls of a container without a sealingstrip;

FIG. 9 is also a partial section view similar to FIG. 7 but illustratingattachment of the handle to a thick-wall container without a sealingstrip;

FIG. 10 is a partial *side elevation view illustrating a modification ofthe handle of FIGS. 1-9 for purposes of greater hand comfort;

FIG. 11 is an end elevation view of another modification of the presenthandle, which modification facilitates attachment to the flat surfacesof a container wall instead of an edge thereof;

FIG. 12 illustrates the attachment of the handle of FIG. 11 to thecontainer wall;

modification of the present handle, which modification also lends itselfto heavy-duty applications;

FIG. 19 is a half-scale top plan view thereof; FIG. 20 is a full-scaleside elevation view thereof; and FIG. 21 is a full-scale section view atsection line 21- 21 of FIG. 18.

Referring to the drawings and initially to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-9,FIG. 1 shows a gusseted, filmic plastic bag 20 encasing granulated,particulated or pulverant solid material 12. The opposed sides 14 and 16of bag are sealed together at the top by a plastic strip or scaling seam18 which is folded over and heat sealed to the bag edges byconvention-a1 plastic welding techniques, e.g., direct contact heating,ultrasonic heating, or the like. Plastic handle 20 is then centrallylocated and afiixed thereto, preferably by similar heat-sealing methods,or optionally may be adhered thereto by adhesives, cements, plasticsolvents, or the like, all as recognized by those skilled in the plasticarts. Because plastic handle 20 has a degree of pliability andflowability under the preferred heat-welding securing technique,irregularities in the wall thickness of the bag or in thepreviously-sealed seams thereof are inherently compensated for.

Handle 20 and bag 10, including sealing strip 18, are preferably formedfrom the same type or compatible type of thermoplastic material,optimally having substantially the same melting point. This facilitatesheat welding and assures a substantially uniform integral structureafter welding, which is resistant to delamination. By compatible type ismeant that the plastic or plastics chosen for the handle and bag must atleast be permanently aflixable to one another (and thus delaminationresistant) by the use of heat, cement, solvents, adhesives, or the like,excluding piercing techniques such as sewing.

Among the plastics which may be considered for the handle and/or thefilmic bag portion ar polyethylene (including cross-linked, linear andblends thereof), polypropylene, polyvinylchloride,polyvinylchloride-acetate copolymer, polyvinylidene chloride (Saran),polystyrene, rubber hydrochloride (Pliofilm), polyethylene terephthalate(Mylar), the polyesters, or the like, preferably polyethylene.Laminations or coatings of two or more of such thermoplastics may alsobe advantageously employed. As those skilled in the art will recognize,some plastics would be more suitable for the filmic container butbecause of softness or the like may be less than ideal for the handleportion.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and 5, carrying handle 20 comprises elongatedsecuring web 22 which contains elongated securing slot 24 along one sidethereof having a depth of approximately one-half the width of web 22. Asis particularly apparent in FIG. 3 (as well as in FIGS. 4, 5, 7, 8 and9), web 22 is thickened or progressively increased in cross sectionadjacent the slotted portion so as to accommodate the slot. The totalthickness of the two sides of the slot, i.e., skirts 22a and 22b, neednot necessarily be as thick as the thinnest portion of web 22 becausethe plastic material of the side walls of the bag encased within theslot and, after heat welding thereof, forming an integral part thereof,contributes to the over-all thickness and strength.

Convergently-directioned support webs 26 and 28 are located at theextremities of securing web 22 and have stress-distributing contours orprofiles 30 and 32, respectively, at the internal junctures withsecuring web 22. The external junctures of support webs 26 and 28 withsecuring web 22 are also faired so as to minimize stress concentration.

Elongated hand-grip portion 34 connects the upper extremities of supportwebs 26 and 28 so as to form a convenient hand opening, the internal andexternal junctures having substantial radii of curvature to avoid stressconcentration, as shown. The thickened cross section of handgrip portion34 is extended at 36 and 38 into support webs 26 and 28 so as toreinforce same and permit an esthetic tapering design for the supportwebs without sacrifice of strength. The upper internal contour of thesupport webs and thickened extensions of the hand-grip portion mayoptionally be blended together as illustrated by 26' and 36' of FIG. 10to eliminate any narrow surfaces which may tend to cut into the hand orfingers of the carrier.

As shown in FIG. 6, the underside or normally-downward-facing surface ofthe hand-grip portion 34, which is the principal hand-contacting face,is substantially flattened for carrying comfort. In the aforementionedembodiment of FIG, 10, the flattened undersurface of the hand-gripportion is extended into the supporting webs, also for comfort reasons.

The versatility of the design of the handle in accommodating various bagthicknesses is illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. In FIG. 7 the sides ofslot 24 are spaced so as to accommodate the combined thicknesses ofopposed side walls 14 and 16 of the bag as well as plastic strip 18. Ifthe material to be encompassed by the side walls 22a and 22b of slot 24is less than the spacing thereof, such as suggested by bag walls 40 and42 in FIG. 8, the sides 22a and 22b can simply be pinched together inthe sealing operation. Similarly, if the material to be encompassed isthicker than the spacing, as suggested by bag walls 44 and 46 in FIG. 9,the sides 22a and 22b can be distended outwardly to accommodate theincreased thickness.

While a particular embodiment of a handle of the present invention maythus be employed for bags having various wall thicknesses, with orwithout the additional sealing strips, it should be recognized that thedesigfi of the handle also lends itself to custom manufacture, ifdesired. Accordingly, if it is desired to tailor make a given embodimentfor a particular bag thickness, simple mold adjustments can be made sothat the spacing of sides 22a and 22b of web 22 exactly accommodates thecontainer walls enclosed in the slot formed thereby.

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 illustrate another advantage of the design of thepresent handle. Specifically, the urgent need for low-cost manufacturedemands that handle place= ment during attachment be rapidlyaccomplished. In contrast to handles which are secured to only one sideof a bag wall and thus must be accurately located before welding, it isonly necessary in the design of the present invention to place thehandle over the bag edge until the edge of the container registers withthe top of slot 24. This can be done consistently and accurately withoutresort to placement jigs or the like.

With certain types of bags it may be desirable to secure the handle to aflat portion thereof, as illustrated in the embodiment of FIGS. 11, 12and 13. As shown in FIG. 11, the handle is molded as in the embodimentsof FIGS. 1 through 9 except that the side walls 22a and 22b forming slot24' are substantially lengthened, usually, but not necessarily, byextending the extremities of the side walls of the slot vertically,whereby the extremities are parallel and overall handle width remainsunchanged. The side walls thus can be readily flexed outwardly for thesecur ing operation, as shown in FIG. 12. Should it be de* sired, thehandle many be flexed downward against the flat bag wall to which it issecured, as shown in FIG. 13, the flat bag wall being depicted at 50.This is advan tageous as a space saver when shipping the bags withhandles already attached, particularly when empty. It should berecognized, of course, that when a bag is filled and lifted by thehandle, the weight of the contents restores the side walls of slot 24'substantially toward the vertical so as to conform to the stress angle,whatever that may be in the particular case.

Two heavy-duty modifications of the handle of the present invention arepresented in FIGS. 14-17 and FIGS. 18-21, respectively. Bothmodifications retain the unique features of the present invention incombination with esthetic design.

Referring to FIGS, 14 17, the handle, which is drawn to actual scale,comprises an elongated securing web 60 with securing slot 62 formed byparallel bifurcated side portions or skirts 60a and 60b.Convergently-directioned support webs 64 and 66 are faired into web 60by internal stress-distributing profiles 68 and 7d, the externalprofiles also being curvilinear to avoid stress concentration.

p in width, and has a three-inch gusset.

Elongated hand-grip portion 72 connects the upper extremities of supportwebs 64 and 66, the internal and external junctures having substantialradii of curvature to avoid stress concentration. The hand-grip portion72 features a substantially-thickened cross section 74 which extends andtapers into support webs 64 and 66 at 76 and 78, the thickness andextent of the extension being greater than in the embodiments of FIGS.1-13. The underside or normally-downward-facing surface of the thickenedhand-grip portion 72 is concavely curved upwardly as indicated at 80 inFIG. 17, the curvatu-re usually being less pronounced when the handle issubjected to carrying stresses. The underside may also, of course, besubstantially flattened or even slightly convexly curved, as dictated bystrength and hand comfort considerations.

Referring to FIGS. 18-21, the handle, which is drawn to half-scale inFIGS. 18-19 and actual-scale in FIGS. 20-21, comprises an elongatedsecuring web 90 with inverted-V-shaped securing slot 92 formed bydivergent bifurcated side portions or skirts 911a and 90b.Convergently-directioned support webs 94 and 96 are faired into web 90by internal stress-distributing profiles 98 and 1%.

Elongated hand-grip portion 102 connects the upper extremities ofsupport webs 94 and 96, the internal and external junctures havingsubstantial curvature to provide stress distribution as in thepreviously-described embodiments. The hand-grip portion 102 features asubstantially-thickened cross section 104 which extends to the lowerextremities of the support webs while progressively tapering andwidening as shown at 106 and 168, thereby covering roughly about halfthe web areas. The underside or normally-downward-facing surface ofhand-grip portion 102 is substantially flattened for hand comfort.

Both heavy-duty embodiments of FIGS. 14-17 and FIGS. 18-21 may bemodified for attachent to the fiat surfaces of a container wall insteadof an edge thereof by lengthening bifurcated side portions 60a-60b and96a- 90b, respectively, in a manner similar to that already described inconnection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-10 and illustrated in FIGS.11-13.

EXAMPLE 1 As a specific example of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 9,but without limitation thereto, the handle is integrally molded frompolyethylene plastic and is approximately 6 /s inches in over-all lengthand 2% inches in over-all height, FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 being drawn toapproximate scale in the original patent drawings. The handle isheat-sealed to a 6-mil-thick polyethylene bag at the upper seam thereof,as portrayed in FIG. 1. The bag is, for example, about 21 inches inlength, 10 inches The bag is fabricated from filmic polyethylene sheetstock having a thickness of about 6 mils and, for example, may be filledwith 25 pounds of salt for melting ice.

Securing web 22 is approximately /8 inch in vertical width, and slot 24is approximately 7 inch in depth.

The thickness of web 22 increases from about mils at the juncture withsupport webs 26 and 28 to approximately 115 mils at the location ofupper extremity of slot 24. The walls 22a and 22b of slot 24 are eachapproximately 25 mils in thickness, although, as previously mentioned,they may be substantially thinner, at least at the lower portionsthereof, inasmuch as after heatsealing of the handle to the plastic bagwall, the bag wall and walls 22a and 22b become an integral structurereinforcing one another.

Support webs 26 and 28 are angled at approximately 3040 from thevertical, e.g., 35, and are approximately 65 mils in thickness. Thehorizontal width thereof tapers, as shown in FIG. 2, from about 1%inches at the juncture with securing web 22 to about /2 inch at thejuncture with hand-grip portion 34. The radius of curvature of thestress-distributing profile at the internal juncture of support webs 26and 28 with securing web 22 is approximately inch.

The upper surfaces of hand-grip portion 34 are approximately round incross section, as shown in FIG. 6 on an expanded scale, and have anactual radius of curvature of approximately inch. As previouslyindicated, the lower portion thereof is substantially flat for purposesof hand comfort. The result is a cross section with a maximum horizontalwidth of 250 mils and a maximum vertical height of 200 mils.

EXAMPLE 2 As a specific example of the embodiment of FIGS. 18-21, butwithout limitation thereto, the handle is integrally molded frompolyethylene plastic and is'approximately 8% inches in over-all lengthand 2 /8 inches in over-all height. The handle may be secured to thecontainer, e. g., a 6- to 7-mil polyethylene bag for carrying 50 poundsof pulverant material, by techniques already described in Example 1.

Securing web is approximately inch in vertical width, and inverted-Vslot 92 is approximately to inch in depth. The thickness of Web 90 isabout 62.5 mils at the juncture with support webs 94 and 96, and walls90a and 9% are each approximately 25 mils. Support webs 94 and 96 areangled as shown in the drawings and are approximately 62.5 mils inthickness. The width, measured horizontally, tapers from about 2% inchesat the juncture with securing web 90 to about /3 inch at the juncturewith hand-grip portion 102. The radius of curvature of thestress-distributing profiles 98 and 100 is approximately inch. Theinternal and external radii of curvature of the junctures of supportwebs 94 and 96 with hand g-rip portion .102 are approximately 7 inch and4 inch, respectively.

The upper surface of hand-grip portion 102 has a radius of curvature ofapproximately inch. The maximum horizontal width is approximately inch(437.5 mils) and the maximum vertical depth is approximately 225 mils.The thickened profile 104 of hand-grip portion 102 tapers gradually atextensions 106 and 108 from the maximum cross section of about inch atthe top to the support-web thickness of 62.5 mils at the juncture withsecuring web 90.

From the above description of certain embodiments and specific examplesof two such embodiments, it is apparent that the objects of the presentinvention have been achieved. The simply-molded, low-cost, high-strengthhandle is readily aflixable to fiat surfaces or end extremities ofgusseted and pillow-type bags of varying wall thicknesses. Thedimensions of the handle can be readily adjusted within the basic designto meet varying requirements, and the load-distributing attributes ofthe basic design penmit the use of filmic container walls of minimumthickness for a given load. Since two opposed surfaces of the handle aresecured to the container walls, the handle can be seized from any anglewithout fear of delaminating or peeling it from the container orotherwise tearing the container. The intermediate portions of thesecuring webs 22, 60 and 90 and the thickened cross sections 34, 74 and104 of hand-grip portions 20, 72 and 1112, respectively, form incombination a reinforced structure to vertical forces so that the handlewill not fold or collapse under normal loads. The handle, whethersecured to the edge or flat surfaces, is positioned or can be positionedso as to lie flat for shipping purposes.

While the present invention has been described in connection withcertain embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is notlimited thereto. Alternative modifications of the present invention willbe apparent from the above description to those skilled in the art andsuch modifications are considered as within the spirit and scope of thepresent invention and are intended to be covered in any patent basedhereon.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An integrally-formed plastic carrying handle for attachment to apliable plastic container comprising:

(A) an elongated securing web longitudinally slotted along one sidethereof so as to provide internal longitudinal surfaces for attachmentto said pliable plastic container;

' (B) c'onvergently-directioned support webs adjacent the extremities ofsaid securing web and at the other longitudinal side thereof, saidsupport webs increasing in Width from normally-upper to normally-lowerportions thereof and having stress-distributing profiles at the internaljunctures with said securing web;

(C) an elongated hand-grip portion between the converging extremities ofsaid support webs and connected thereto by stress-distributing profiles,said elongated hand-grip portion,

(1) being substantially parallel to and spaced from said elongatedsecuring web,

(2) being thickened to increase resistance to transverse flexure understress, and

( 3) having a stress-distributing cont-our at thenormally-downward-facing surface thereof;

(D) thickened portions of said hand-grip portion extending at least intosaid support webs so as to reinforce the same; said handle beingsubstantially symmetrical about the principal plane thereof.

2. A manuallyportable collapsible container for flowable substancescomprising:

(A) a normally-downward-depending, pliable-walled,

collapsible plastic vessel portion; and

(B) a carrying handle of compatible-type plastic secured at anormally-upward portion thereof, said handle comprising:

(1) an elongated securing web with downwarddepending, opposed,longitudinal extensions, internal surfaces of which are secured to saidvessel portion,

(2) upwardly convergently directioned support webs adjacent theextremities of said securing web, said support webs havingstress-distributing profiles at the internal junctures with saidsecuring Web,

(3) an elongated hand-grip portion between the upward extremities ofsaid support webs and connected thereto with stress-distributingprofiles, said elongated hand-grip portion,

(a) being substantially parallel to and spaced from said elongatedsecuring Web,

(b) being thickened to resist transverse flexure, and

(c) being contoured for hand comfort at the principal hand-contactingsurfaces,

(4) thickened portions of said hand grip-portion extending into at leastsaid support webs so as reinforce the same;

said handle being substantially symmetrical about the principal planethereof.

3. A manually-portable container for particulated solids comprising:

(A) a normally-downward-depending, pliable-walled polyethylene bagportion; and

(B) a polyethylene plastic carrying handle integrally and centrallysecured to said bag portion at a normally upward portion thereof, saidhandle comprising:

(1) an elongated securing web longitudinally slotted along the normallylower side thereof with portions of said polyethylene bag portionintegrally secured to internal surfaces of the slot,

(2) upwardly convergently directioned support webs adjacent theextremities of said securing web, said support webs increasing in widthfrom the normally-upper to the normally-lower portions thereof andhaving stress-distributing profiles at the junctures with said securingweb,

(3) an elongated hand-grip portion between the upward extremities ofsaid support webs :and connected thereto with stress-distributingprofiles, said elongated hand-grip portion,

(a) being substantially parallel to and spaced from said elongatedsecuring web,

(b) being thickened to resist transverse flexure, and

(c) being contoured for hand comfort at the principal hand-contactingsurfaces,

(4) thickened portions of said hand-grip portion extending into at leastsaid support Webs so 'as to reinforce the same;

said handle being substantially symmetrical about the principal planethereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,733,219 10/1929Duvall 22952 X 2,823,155 2/1958 Brown et a1. -12 X 3,010,552 11/1961Davidson 57 X 3,128,035 4/ 1964 Temeles 22954 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,296,7415/1962 France.

1,358,312 3/1964 France.

1,115,418 9/1960 Germany.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Examiner.

D. T. MOORI-IEAD, Assistaint Examiner.

1. AN INTEGRALLY-FORMED PLASTIC CARRYING HANDLE FOR ATTACHMENT TO APLIABLE PLASTIC CONTAINER COMPRISING: (A) AN ELONGATED SECURING WEBLONGITUDINALLY SLOTTED ALONG ONE SIDE THEREOF SO AS TO PROVIDE INTERNALLONGITUDINAL SURFACES FOR ATTACHMENT TO SAID PLIABLE PLASTIC CONTAINER;(B) CONVERGENTLY-DIRECTIONED SUPPORT WEBS ADJACENT THE EXTREMITIES OFSAID SECURING WEB AND AT THE OTHER LONGITUDINAL SIDE THEREOF, SAIDSUPPORT WEBS INCREASING IN WIDTH FROM NORMALLY-UPPER TO NORMALLY-LOWERPORTIONS THEREOF AND HAVING STRESS-DISTRIBUTING PROFILES AT THE INTERNALJUNCTURES WITH SAID SECURING WEB; (C) AN ELONGATED HAND-GRIP PORTIONBETWEEN THE CONVERGING EXTREMITIES OF SAID SUPPORT WEBS AND CONNECTEDTHERETO BY STRESS-DISTRIBUTING PROFILES, SAID ELONGATED HAND-GRIPPORTION, (1) BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO AND SPACED FROM SAIDELONGATED SECURING WEB, (2) BEING THICKENED TO INCREASE RESISTANCE TOTRANSVERSE FLEXURE UNDER STRESS, AND (3) HAVING A STRESS-DISTRIBUTINGCONTOUR AT THE NORMALLY-DOWNWARD-FACING SURFACE THEREOF; (D) THICKENEDPORTIONS OF SAID HAND-GRIP PORTION EXTENDING AT LEAST INTO SAID SUPPORTWEBS SO AS TO REINFORCE THE SAME; SAID HANDLE BEING SUBSTANTIALLYSYMMETRICAL ABOUT THE PRINCIPAL PLANE THEREOF.